New Study Shows Almost 50% Of The Biggest Films Of The 12 Years Don’t Feature A Latinx Speaking Part

As crazy as it seems, there are still people nowadays that don’t necessarily understand the need for more diversity in Hollywood. Whether its TV or film, there’s been a recent push by studios to have more inclusivity and diversity in projects. And when you see the statistics, this is something that can’t be denied.

According to THR, there’s a new study written, titled “Latinos in Film: Erasure on Screen & Behind the Camera Across 1,200 Popular Movies,” that takes a look at the Latino/Latina representation over the top 100 films from the last 12 years. And out of those 1,200 films, it would appear that Latinx representation is severely lacking.

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The big stat that is going to sum up everything in one helpful number is the fact that Latinx characters only make up 4.5% of all roles in the 1,200 films. And making matters worse is the fact that only 3% of the films feature a Latinx lead or co-lead. If you’re the type that wants to dive even deeper, then of that 3 %, only 17 films (again, out of 1,200) included a female Latinx lead or co-lead. Going even further, 5 of those 17 films starred Cameron Diaz. So, if you want to sum it up, Cameron Diaz represents almost one-third of all female Latinx leads off the last 12 years.

But enough of talking about films that feature Latinx characters. When you look at the inverse, it’s pretty startling, as well. The study also says that out of the 1,200 films, almost half of them (568, to be exact) didn’t even feature one Latinx character with a speaking role. But hey, if you look at the films that actually do include Latinx characters, then almost two-thirds of those characters are criminals or people involved in illegal activities. Oof.

You can read more about the study, but the evidence is clear — Latinx characters are not only underrepresented in films over the last 12 years, but when they are featured, the characters are not the best representation for the ethnicity, focusing on negative stereotypes. For folks that still don’t understand the need for more diversity in film, this is why.